Read the Bible in a Year (24AUG19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, August 24’s Bible reading is Jeremiah 42-45.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, August 25’s Bible reading is Jeremiah 46-48. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

JEREMIAH MOMENT – (24AUG19) “Then all the military leaders…and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached Jeremiah the prophet. They said, ‘Please pray to the Lord your God for us… Pray that the Lord your God will show us what to do and where to go.’  ‘All right,’ Jeremiah replied. ‘I will pray to the Lord your God, as you have asked, and I will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you.’ Then they said to Jeremiah, ‘May the Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do! Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us’” (Jeremiah 42:1-6). The Babylonians had come and destroyed most of the land in both Judah and Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecies that Jeremiah had given to them throughout the timespan of forty years. The remnant who were left wanted him to inquire of God as to where they should go and what to do. They promised to accept and obey whatever the Word was that came back from the Lord. Unfortunately, when Jeremiah told them that the Lord wanted them to stay where they were instead of proceeding with their plans to go to Egypt, they were unhappy with Jeremiah’s message. They had already settled the matter in their minds that life would be better for them in Egypt despite whatever Word came from the Lord. God had promised that He would be their provision if they obeyed Him, but instead of heeding the Lord’s warning of not going to Egypt, they accused Jeremiah of lying and being influenced by his scribe Baruch. Therefore, they took the women, children, and Jeremiah with them to Egypt in defiance of the Lord’s warnings.

There are times when the Lord is telling us to go in one direction, but we choose to go in a different direction in total defiance to what He wants. This only causes pain and grief for us later on because the Lord sees the end from the beginning and knows what the outcome will be. We sometimes make the mistake of thinking that we know what is best for our lives, but we fail to realize that the Lord is our Creator, and already has a plan that will bring us to an expected end. The remnant who defied the Lord where warned that destruction was going to be their end result, but they did not believe the messenger, and ultimately showed that they did not believe God. They had lived to see that the warnings that Jeremiah had given had come to past, but their arrogance and pride did not allow them to humble themselves before the Lord. Therefore, they brought a curse on themselves by living in the sin of pride. We must all be humble before the Lord and obey His will in order to receive His favor upon our lives. When the world around us is crumbling, those who hold on to God will be saved. Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (24AUG19) Have you ever felt like you were not being as successful as you could, according to the world’s standards, because you were working and living for Christ? Have you felt mentally lethargic due to the heavy burden of trying to witness to the lost? Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, had such a moment as he was doing work for Jeremiah. The residue from Jeremiah’s unpopularity with the people was on him as well because he had to write and was sometimes tasked with reading in the people’s hearing the Word given to Jeremiah. He was tired, worn out, and stressed from the challenges that came with his role. Nevertheless, the Lord had a personal message that He gave to Jeremiah for Baruch. The Lord had seen what was in his heart, but He told him not to chase after things that would eventually be uprooted. He was to be obedient to the Lord and wherever he went, the Lord would provide safety for him.

There are many servants of God who are sacrificing a lot for His kingdom. Despite what many televangelists and others with huge platforms tell their followers, not all is glorious when you follow Christ. Everyone will not be rich, famous, have mansions, the latest cars, and be on the list of the elite. The Bible says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:25). Jesus said this regarding the rich who would try to enter Heaven, but found it difficult to let go of the finer things of life because their riches had become their god. This is not to say that if a person is rich or wealthy that they are in sin. There are those whom the Lord has blessed to obtain wealth in order to do kingdom service. The Bible says, “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today” (Deuteronomy 8:18). Even in so doing, the Lord does not want us to become entangled in the things of this world that will one day fade away.

We see now that in the United States, things are not as economically sound as the government would have its citizens to believe. When we are having trade wars with the country to whom we owe a great portion of our nation’s debt to, and they stop purchasing agriculture and other products from our farmers and businesses, our nation is in trouble. We are growing closer to a physical war by the day, and if things do not change, we will see it happen. Therefore, we should not place our trust in our material possessions nor a politician. Our trust is to be completely in the Lord. Only He can sustain us when the world is in total chaos. Something to ponder….